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On December 10, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- "saints" and "blesseds" whose souls are now in heaven:

Bl. Brian Lacey of Yorkshire and Bl. Sidney Hodgson (English, laymen who hid priests, tortured and martyred [drawn, hanged, and quartered] under Elizabeth I in 1591 [beatified 1929])
Sts. Carpophorus and Abundius (Italian or Spanish, priest and deacon, martyred in 300)
St. Deusdedit of Brescia (Italian, bishop, c. 700)
St. Edmund Gennings of Lichfield [or Genings/Jennings] (English, adolescent convert, priest, martyred under Elizabeth I at about age 24 in 1591 [beatified 1929, canonized 1970])
Sts. Eulalia and Julia of Merida (Spanish, tortured and martyred by burning c. 304) [St. Eulalia died at about age 14.]
St. Eustace White of Louth (English, priest, martyred under Elizabeth I in 1591 [beatified 1929, canonized 1970])
St. Florentius of Carracedo (Spanish, Benedictine abbot, d. 1156)
St. Gemellus of Ancyra (Galatian [from part of what is now Turkey], martyred by crucifixion in 362)
Pope St. Gregory III (Syrian, priest in Rome, elected to papacy in 731, battled iconoclasm, fostered missionary work, reigned until death in 741)
St. Guitmarus of Normandy (French, abbot, c. 750)
Sts. Hermogenes, Mennas, and Eugraphus, of Alexandria (Egyptian, martyred by beheading c. 312)
St. Hildemar of Beauvais (French, Benedictine monk, bishop, c. 840)
Bl. John Mason of Kendal (English, servant, martyred [drawn, hanged, quartered] under Elizabeth I in 1591 [beatified 1929])
St. John Roberts of Trawsfynydd (Welsh, Benedictine priest in Spain, martyred in England [drawn, hanged, quartered] under James I at about age 33 in 1610 [beatified 1929, canonized 1970])
St. Lucerius of Maurienne (Italian, Benedictine abbot in France, d. 739)
Bl. Mark Anthony Durando of Mondovi [Marcantonio] (Italian, Vincentian priest, founded Institute of the Sisters of Jesus the Nazarene, died at age 79 in 1880 [beatified 2002])
St. Mercurius and companions, of Lentini (soldiers in Sicily, martyred by beheading in 300)
Pope St. Miltiades (African, elected to papacy in 311, reigned until death in 314)
St. Peter Truong Van Duong of Ke So [Phero] (Vietnamese, catechist, martyred by strangling at about age 30 in 1838)
Bl. Peter Tecelano of Campi [Pietro] (Italian, comb maker, widower, Franciscan friar, nurse, mystic, d. 1287 [beatified 1802])
St. Polydore Plasden of London (English, priest, martyred [drawn, hanged, and quartered] under Elizabeth I at about age 28 in 1591 [beatified 1929, canonized 1970])
Bl. Sebastian Montanol (Spanish, Dominican missionary in Mexico, martyred [?] in 1616)
St. Swithun Wells of Bambridge (English, married man, teacher, martyred under Elizabeth I at about age 55 in 1591 [beatified 1929, canonized 1970])
St. Thomas of Farfa (French, Benedictine monk, hermit in Italy, d. 720)
Bl. Thomas Somers of Skelsmergh [alias Wilson] (English, schoolmaster, priest, martyred [drawn, hanged, quartered] under James I in 1610 [beatified 1929])

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Additional information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 07, 2004

Answers

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 10, 2004.